And colonizing it

Country by Country

This China Uncensored.

I'm Chris Chappell.

Have you ever borrowed money—

say, for school, or a shipping port—

but struggled to pay it back?

And then your loan shark,

I mean, lender was like

“Ok, no problem.

Just give me the rights to everything you earn

for the next 99 years.”

I think we can all relate.

And so can a lot of countries who've borrowed money from China.

It's called “debt-trap diplomacy”.

Just ask Sri Lanka, a small island nation off the coast of India.

In 2010, they got a small 1.5 billion dollar Chinese loan

to build a giant shipping port in the town of Hambantota.

But there wasn't much shipping traffic,

which meant not much cashflow.

Sri Lanka missed a few payments and,

next thing you know,

they had to sign away the entire port to China

with a 99-year lease.

But it's not always easy to learn from others' mistakes.

In Africa, dozens of countries have taken out Chinese loans.

And last September,

China pledged to invest another 60 billion dollars in Africa.

“China and Africa will join hands to build

a China-Africa community with shared future

that features win-win cooperation,

happiness for all,

and harmonious coexistence.”

Of course, Xi Jinping's definition of win-win is that,

if the country can pay off the loan,

China wins.

If they can't,

China takes over its assets instead,

and China still wins.

So, win-win.

So which African countries are most at risk of,

shall we call it,

“getting Sri Lanka'd”?

Well, here are the five African countries

with the most debt to China.

Number 5

Sudan.

Sudan was first country in sub-saharan Africa

to recognize the People's Republic of China.

That was back in 1959.

The Diplomat calls it China's original foothold.

Which should not be confused with the original Footloose.

You can tell the difference because Footloose had Kevin Bacon,

and Sudan had...genocide.

Sudan is a conflict-torn country that holds the record

for the longest-running civil war in Africa,

resulting in the deaths of 2 million people

and the breakup of the country into Sudan and South Sudan.

Here's Sudan's leader Omar al-Bashir

at the recent China-Africa summit in Beijing.

Bashir's name might sound familiar because of...

all the war crimes he committed in Darfur.

Allegedly.

But things are looking up for Sudan,

since it's set to get the largest share of that 60 billion dollars

Xi Jinping pledged Africa back in September.

Chinese investment in Sudan has given China

control of around 75% of the country's oil industry,

under supervision of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

Although some of the facilities are fixer-uppers.

Some of that Chinese money was used

to upgrade the Khartoum Refinery

and double production to 100,000 barrels a day.

Which is important.

Because the vast majority of that oil goes to China.

And there are plenty of other resources to tap in Sudan, too.

Like gold.

And loyalty.

Sudan's estimated debt to China is now $6.4 billion dollars.

And with China's pledge to provide more financing,

that debt could balloon big time.

According to this IMF report,

“Sudan's external debt is assessed to be unsustainable.”

But that's not even so bad,

compared to several other countries, including...

Number 4

The Republic of the Congo.

Not to be confused with the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

its larger and less democratic neighbor.

The Republic of the Congo owes China 7.3 billion dollars.

“China and Congo have launched projects

worth several billion dollars.

These include a motorway between Brazzaville

and the economic capital of Pointe Noire,

the construction of Brazzaville Stadium,

a hydro-electric dam,

and upgrades to the country's airport.”

According to a paper by the China-Africa Research Initiative,

the Republic of the Congo is one of three African countries—

alongside Zambia and Djibouti—

where Chinese loans make up

“the most significant contributor to high risk of debt distress.”

So what does this Chinese debt mean?

It's a growing amount,

we don't know the conditions,

and these countries are going to be increasingly leveraged

to repay that when they are unable,

China will make additional demands,

these countries will have less money

to spend on social services and other programs,

it's somewhat of a downward spiral.”

The mere thought of those “additional demands”

are making Congo's president break out in a sweat.

Some of the projects there have raised eyebrows,

like when Chinese companies built

the new Congolese parliament building.

For free!

Maybe it's so they can make sure the offices

are set up just the way they like it

when Congo defaults on its debts

and Chinese officials move in and take over.

No, I'm just kidding.

The Chinese regime doesn't want to take over.

It's more likely that they built the parliament building

so they could bug the whole thing.

Like they did with the African Union building.

More about that in a few minutes.

According to the IMF,

Congo is officially in debt distress

and they've been shopping around for a bailout.

But it's not going to be easy.

When the IMF did some due diligence,

they found the Republic of the Congo

may be hiding part of its debt.

The the country claims its debt to GDP ratio is 77% of GDP.

But the IMF calculated that ratio to be 117%.

They accused the government of lying,

and called for an anti-corruption watchdog

to be set up before they agree to release any funds.

But I have a better idea,

one that won't require Congo to clean up its corruption.

Congo is a major oil producer,

so maybe China will agree to take oil as collateral...

and then lend them some more money.

It'll be win-win.

For China.

Number 3

Kenya

Home of the famous Maasai warriors.

“Kenya's Maasai warriors may have used spears like these

to hunt wild animals in the past.

But now they're using them to take part in Maasai olympics.”

In the past young Maasai men proved themselves by killing lions.

But now, with its debt to China at nearly 8 billion dollars,

the Maasai are instead hunting for cash.

More money, fewer dead lions.

Win-win.

But not all Kenyans feel like they're winning.

There are reports of disgruntled travelers

on a new 3.5 billion dollar railway,

built and funded by China.

“Customers complain tickets can be bought one-way only

and just 3 days in advance.”

The 290-mile Nairobi-Mombasa railway

is Kenya's biggest infrastructure project

since the country became independent in 1964.

It's catchy slogan with Chinese characteristics is:

“Connecting Nations.

Prospering People.”

Kenya's president loves his train set so much,

that he recently secured another 3.6 billion dollar loan from China

to extend the railway line by 155 miles.

Opposition parties say the project is too expensive,

won't generate enough revenue,

and is a ticking financial time bomb.

Because after a 10-year grace period,

Kenya has to start paying back the loan.

But Kenya's president isn't worried.

Because that'll be the next president's problem.

Number 2

Ethiopia.

Ethiopia owes China an estimated 13.5 billion dollars.

But don't worry.

China's ambassador says by lending all this cash,

China is not only helping Ethiopia,

but the entire world.

“China sometimes feels lonely,

because we are one of the biggest,

and the only country that has invested heavily

in the development of infrastructure in this country,

because we believe finally the development of infrastructure

has not only served the local people,

the host country,

it has also served the investors from other countries.”

How selfless.

Chinese money and Chinese workers built Ethiopia

a rail link to neighboring Djibouti,

and a system of trams in Ethiopia's capital,

Addis Ababa.

“It's good they're building the tram

to reduce the traffic jams in the city.

With regard to quality,

I think the Chinese did an ok job.

Still, it might have been better to give it to a Western company.”

Well, at least the quality is ok.

Not as high tech as the African Union headquarters

China built in Ethiopia, though.

That building is so advanced,

it was able to spy on people inside and transmit

confidential data to Shanghai each day for 5 years.

In China's defense,

it was a feature,

not a bug.

And...

Number 1

Angola.

It's the African country with the most debt to China:

$25 billion dollars.

To rack up that kind of debt,

it took more than a few one-off projects.

In Angola, Chinese companies and Chinese loans

are building entire cities.

Like the city of Zongo,

on the outskirts of the capital.

“The multi-million dollar city is being fully-funded

by the China International Fund Limited.

It will hand over the project to the government upon completion.”

Yes, it will definitely hand it over to the Angolan government.

Because it's the right thing to do.

Incidentally, that China International Fund Limited

has shady links to the Chinese regime,

and a history of investing in unstable African dictatorships,

all the while securing rights to extract minerals and other resources.

Chinese companies are also using debt

to finance what will become the biggest airport

in a city you've never heard of:

Luanda.

Luanda is Angola's capital,

but it probably doesn't need an airport as big as the one in Cairo,

a city you've definitely heard of.

Especially when it costs nearly 4 billion dollars,

and is several years behind schedule.

On the plus side,

the construction is creating jobs in a country

where the unemployment rate is 20%.

The downside is,

those jobs are being done

almost exclusively by Chinese workers.

And let's just say locals are not happy.

Maybe this isn't a win-win.

So what do you think about African countries

being so highly indebted to China?

Leave your comments below.

And before we go,

it's time to answer a question from a fan

who supports China Uncensored

on the crowd funding website Patreon.

David Michael White asks

“Chris, I know that it's been awhile

since you have been in South Korea

but what was the best part of your trip there?”